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Venom Vol 1 156
Supporting Characters: * * ** ** Antagonists: * Other Characters: * Dmitri (Kraven the Hunter's manservant) * * * ** ** Fact Sheet * ** * Races and Species: * * * * Locations: * ** *** **** ***** ****** New York Sewer System ****** Kraven's New York headquarters ****** ******* ******** ******* ******** ***** ** *** *** Items: * * .585 Gehringer * Giant bear trap | Synopsis1 = In the sewers of New York, Tana — a pterosaur dinosaur-hybrid — searches for prey, recalling when she had once been a Spanish animal biologist by the name of Julia Fontana. Spotting a rat, she pounces on it and begins to eat, recalling that she had previously been a vegetarian for twenty years before her transformation. Engrossed in her meal, Tana does not notice a knife-wielding man watching her from a nearby tunnel with a predatory smile. At a Chinese restaurant, Eddie Brock consumes a bowl of dan dan noodles, telling the hungry symbiote that if it's still hungry afterwards he'll get it a steak. A nearby customer turns and asks Eddie who he's talking to, but Eddie glares at him and tells him to learn to mind his own business. After the meal, Eddie walks home grousing about the man's obnoxiousness. When the symbiote asks why he's mad at an innocent, Eddie retorts that the man was an idiot, then explains to the confused symbiote that just because they save innocents doesn't mean they have to like them. Opening the door to his apartment, Eddie notices a rancid odor and spots saurian footprints on the floor. Entering, he sees Tana huddled next to his bed, having thrown up onto it and bleeding from lacerations to her arm and face. She introduces herself and apologizes for the mess, and Eddie — inwardly lamenting that the day is going to suck — asks her what happened. At a luxury apartment, Kraven the Hunter stands shirtless in front of a window as his manservant Dmitri approaches and asks if he was successful. Kraven remarks that the Fact Sheet article was indeed correct and that he chased a dinosaur-person through three miles of pipes, observing that despite their reptilian appearance they seem to be homeothermic. Noting that he can't afford to underestimate their strength, he tells Dmitri to fetch his .585 Gehringer rifle, cheerfully proclaiming the hunt begins that night. At Eddie's apartment, Tana tells him she was chased by a savage man who toyed with her, appearing out of nowhere to cut her every time she thought she'd lost him. Binding her wounds, Eddie asks how she found him, and she states she followed the scent of his symbiote — which notes it can change its smell if Eddie wants. Eddie asks why she came to him, and Tana states it's because he's the Savior, calling the man who attacked her a monster and a terror, and saying that Eddie is someone who stops the terrors. The symbiote urges Eddie to take action and protect the innocent, so Eddie tells her to show him where she was attacked. In the sewers, Tana shows Venom where she last saw the man who attacked her. Venom asks if she's sure he was human, and Tana states that while he was a relentless beast he was still human. Venom asks if she can't track the man the way she did him, but Tana says the man has no scent. Retracting the symbiote from his face, Eddie laments that she hasn't given him enough intel to go off of, but is interrupted by the arrival of [[Longo (Earth-616)|an Ankylosaurus hybrid]], who demands to know where Tana has been. Tana explains she was attacked and went to Venom for help, but the Ankylosaurus hybrid scolds her for not going to the community and bothering the Savior with a trivial matter. Satisfied that Tana will be safe among her people, Eddie prepares to leave, but the symbiote warns him of incoming danger. A high-caliber bullet punches through the Ankylosaurus hybrid's neck, killing him, and Venom turns to see Kraven the Hunter taking aim at Tana. As Venom lunges claws-first at him, Kraven tosses the rifle aside and pulls out his hunting knife, bemused by the unexpected challenge. Slamming into Kraven and pinning him, Venom demands to know why he killed the Ankylosaurus hybrid, but Kraven responds by stabbing Venom in the side. Roaring in pain, Venom recoils and Kraven gets up, remarking he'll make better prey than the dinosaur-people. Venom blocks Kraven's slash with his arm, and the Hunter escapes down the tunnel stating he didn't realize there was another apex predator lurking in the sewers. When Venom protests that he protects the innocent, Kraven sneers that if he is not a predator then he is prey. Noting Venom's similarities to Spider-Man, Kraven leaps over a conspicuously-arranged pile of garbage, adding that Venom is more impulsive and not nearly as smart when he barrels through the pile and triggers the massive bear-trap hidden underneath. As Kraven states his intent to claim Venom's head, Venom snares him with webbing, laughing as he declares he's going to eat Kraven. Kraven cuts himself free and slams into a pipe before fleeing down a ledge. Freeing himself from the trap, Venom lunges after Kraven with his jaws gaping and tongue protruding, only to take a high-caliber bullet point-blank in the shoulder as Kraven retrieves his previously-discarded rifle. Smashing the gun with a tendril, Venom flees, bleeding profusely from the wound. Eddie exclaims that he thought the symbiote was bulletproof; but the symbiote corrects him, saying its biomass can be penetrated by large-enough projectiles. Kraven vows to be ready for a rematch, while Eddie partially retracts the symbiote, noting the bullet is still in the wound. The symbiote extracts it and states it will heal him, but Eddie tells it the damage is too severe and to get him to a hospital before passing out from the pain. As Venom emerges from the sewers in an alley, the symbiote notes Eddie is unconscious but can't remember where the hospital is. The symbiote vows to save Eddie, frightening a couple with its increasingly monstrous appearance. At his lab in Alchemax Tower, Dr. Steven enjoys a blue Pikachu look-a-like-themed bowl full of cereal while watching Fact Channel news, remarking that he doesn't like the new anchoress and preferred J. Jonah Jameson. The anchoress reveals that an article published three days prior in the Fact Channel's new sister paper, the Fact Sheet -- claiming that a community of humanoid dinosaurs is living in the sewers and tunnels of Manhattan and the Bronx -- has proven true. Dr. Stevens remarks that this isn't good news, and is immediately confronted by a worse situation: hearing a window shatter behind him, he turns to see Venom sitting on a pile of broken glass, the symbiote degenerating into an amorphous mass of fangs and tendrils as it tells him to help it. | Solicit = LETHAL PROTECTOR Part 2 • Venom has found himself caught in Kraven’s crosshairs! • With the Hunter armed to the teeth and hungry for blood, will Venom be able to hold him off long enough to protect the dinosaur community living beneath the streets of Manhattan… and himself?! | Notes = | Trivia = | Recommended = | Links = }}